Bucking the System uses humor and scathing commentary to tackle a variety of topics; from travel and lifestyle to politics and bay area community issues. http://www.tampabaystart.com Obama said it wasn't about race, yet his candidacy has shown that the wide race divide is still with us. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/the-deception-factor.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/the-deception-factor.htm You can't escape the damage that Barak Obama's associations and his own words have done to this country over the past few weeks. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/typical-white-person.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/typical-white-person.htm The big boys in D.C. and the media did a good job holding off saying what most of us have known for the past few years: We are in a recession. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/the-dreaded-r-word.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/the-dreaded-r-word.htm It seems to me that the month of January should be renamed Fatuary or maybe even Guiltuary. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/Sisterhood_of_the_flab.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/Sisterhood_of_the_flab.htm Anne takes shots at pop-culture creatures Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan and the society that created them. http://www.tampabaystart.com/BuckingTheSystem/paris-britney-and-lindsey.htm http://www.tampabaystart.com/BuckingTheSystem/paris-britney-and-lindsey.htm City girl Anne learns what roughing it means, as she installs curtains in her Redneck RV http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/city-girl-goes-camping.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/city-girl-goes-camping.htm My neighbors hate me. They believe I have super natural powers with animals and their jealousy shows every time they watch my dog poop on command! http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/poopy-envy.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/poopy-envy.htm "The most advanced piece of technology you ever peed on." That's what a current TV ad states. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/step-right-up.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/step-right-up.htm The shock wave among pet owners this week echoed all over the country. A total of 89 brands of dog and cat foods are being recalled. Some pets have died from kidney failure linked to the consumption of these foods. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/killing-our-pets.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/killing-our-pets.htm Our culture is raising generations of young women that are more concerned with how they look than with who they are. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/never-pretty-enough.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/never-pretty-enough.htm Largo's gender-bending city manager has the fur flying, but Anne ponders whether the city commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reason. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/he-said-she-said.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/he-said-she-said.htm If I was to ask for a show of hands of how many of you consider yourselves superstitious; I bet many would be ashamed to admit it. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/superstitions-sensible-stupid.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/superstitions-sensible-stupid.htm Anne bemoans the sad state of citizen-journalism in the Internet era, and suggests the written word is "going to hell." http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/typos-facts.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/typos-facts.htm Oh, what a joyous time of year! Chocolate is everywhere. It's the belle of the ball, the star of the show. Unlike Christmas, Easter and other holidays, it's not just a player mixed in with all the other candies. On Valentine's Day, chocolate stands alone. It shares the limelight with no other sweets. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/happy-chocoholics-day.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/happy-chocoholics-day.htm Players tried to hold on to a football that at times seemed more like a greased pig than a pig skin, while Prince and the twins jumped around on a stage as slippery as an icy lake. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/not-so-super-sunday.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/not-so-super-sunday.htm Anne gets her feathers ruffled over Microsoft's gender bias, but is quick to forgive once she gets her free copy of Office 2007. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/bill-gates.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/bill-gates.htm Anne the angler fails to hook glory in her epic battle with the sea, and learns that 'eau de fish guts' is not her signature scent. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/goin-fishin.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/goin-fishin.htm The phenomenon known as American Idol begins its sixth season January 16th. Grumpy, Frumpy and Lumpy are back again as the judges ready to impale the hopefuls and roast them over hot coals. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/american-idol.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/american-idol.htm Anne discovers that men's pajamas (combined with an alarming disregard for personal hygiene) bestow great power upon the wearer. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/man-jams.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/man-jams.htm Living in Florida, it's sometimes hard to get into the Christmas spirit. Shopping for presents in shorts under the blazing sun just doesn't seem right. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/a-taste-of-christmas-in-the-south.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/a-taste-of-christmas-in-the-south.htm The old urban legend tells us that there is only one fruitcake. It's been re-gifted for hundreds of years, always being passed on, with no one ever wanting to actually eat it. I believe this is where the idea of re-gifting got its start. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/re-gifting.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/re-gifting.htm I still can't believe I did it. I braved the Black Friday crowds and went shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. I am one of those women in the minority - the ones that were born without the "shopping" gene. http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/black-friday.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/black-friday.htm It seems everywhere you turn today you can find someone writing or talking about the afterlife. Could it be that as the largest generation ever, the aging Baby Boomers are facing their own mortality and trying to figure out "what's next?" http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/obsessed-with-the-afterlife.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/obsessed-with-the-afterlife.htm By constantly harping on a subject over and over, the media almost incites a riot-type of mentality in its readers sub-conscience. How else can you explain a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body, and a person's right to fall in love with whomever they please, becoming something for politicians to decide? It seems if the media tells us its bad, then by God it must be! http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/cleaning-out-those-dirty-closets.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/cleaning-out-those-dirty-closets.htm George Romero produced the film, Dawn of the Dead, where the zombies all ended up going to the mall. They explained that people tend to do in death what they did in life. I see a direct parallel to that film in todays society. http://www.tampabaystart.com/BuckingTheSystem/dawn-of-the-unemployed.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/dawn-of-the-unemployed.htm Being a lover of all animals, I was very excited when I was invited to tour one of Americas robotic dairies. I read, with great interest, about how pampered they are. They sleep on waterbeds, have automatic back scratchers and get yummy treats every time they get milked. http://www.tampabaystart.com/BuckingTheSystem/RoboticDairies.htm http://www.TampaBayStart.com/BuckingTheSystem/RoboticDairies.htm